Reuters reports South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon has been formally nominated to succeed Kofi Annan as U.N. secretary-general:
Ban, 62, has been South Korea's foreign minister since January 2004 and has also served as ambassador to the United Nations. Analysts call him a consensus builder who shuns the limelight for quiet diplomacy, rather than an impassioned public speaker.
A career diplomat, he came from a poor rural background but is fluent in English and also speaks French, a job skill that France, with veto power in the selection process, insists upon for any potential U.N. leader.
A more complete bio is available here.
President Bush acknowledged this week that the next secretary-general was likely to be an Asian:
"As I understand it, traditionally ... regions rotate, and we're really looking in the Far East right now to be the secretary-general," President George W. Bush said on Monday.
Ban is the fourth official candidate to be the next Secretary General. The three other nominees are:
Thai Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai;
Sri Lankan disarmament specialist and government adviser Jayantha Dhanapala; and
Indian novelist Shashi Tharoor, the U.N. undersecretary-general for public information.
Council members are expected to start conducting informal polls this month.
We can play a roll. Make your views about who should be the next Secretary General known to your Senator, especially if your Senator serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and its subcommittee on international operations. You can also contact Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Ambassador Nicholas Burns:
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Let's have a say in who becomes the next Secretary General.
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